[masthead]
Managing Editor
Chris Patterson / Kawika Guillermo
Fiction Editors
Umaiyahl Nageswaran
Valeria Alcaraz
Lou Deng
Maya Acharya
Maleekah Ar-rahiman
Poetry Editors
Emily Baird
Kayley Hirose
Jasmine Manango
Anika Nicholson
Michelle Kim
Non-Fiction Editors
Raaz Rashtian
Media/Art Editors
David Ng
General Submission Readers
Hannah Ng
Katheryn Duan
Podcast Host
Abril Soewarso-Rivera
Web Master
Bree Lemckert
Student Advisors and Alumni Editors
Jess Lao
Kriveena Chand
Diana Kamau
Lutze Segu
Sofia Cabaj-Guerra
Jacklyn Yee
Emily Whiting
Christine Fedusiak
[editorial board]
Richard Fung
Tammy Lai-Ming Ho
Denise Ferreira da Silva
Dallas Hunt
Craig Santos Perez
Ashok Mathur
[bios]
Christopher B. Patterson- Managing Editor
Chris is an Assistant Professor in the Social Justice Institute at the University of British Columbia (unceded Musqueam territory), and the author of two academic books on race, empire, and the arts of literature and video games (Transitive Cultures and Open World Empire). Under his matrilineal name Kawika Guillermo, he has written two novels (Stamped and All Flowers Bloom), forty-something short stories, and leaves of prose-poetry.
Valeria Alcaraz- Fiction Editor
Val (she/her/hers) is Mexican, queer, feminist, and a little bit of a witch. She has a BA in Hispanic Literature and is currently getting her MA in GRSJ. Her research focuses on language and literature, particularly the figure of the Witch, the act of Sororidad, female kinship, and violence in language and its portrayal in texts. Tidbits about her: her running partner is her husky, she’s addicted to manguitos con chile, and she loves to permanently draw on her own and other bodies.
Lou Deng- Fiction Editor
Lou (she/her) is a third year at UBC, majoring in English Literature and minoring in GRSJ. She was born in Cairo, Egypt, and is South Sudanese, from the Dinka tribe. Her long term goal in life is to work in the field of immigration and to help individuals fleeing third world countries.
Umaiyahl Nageswaran- Fiction Editor
Umaiyahl (pronounced oo-may-yall; she/her/hers) is a fourth year History major and GRSJ minor. She is passionate about ending sexual and gender based violence, and has worked with Women’s Shelters Canada. She is also heavily involved with UBC A Cappella, in the Undeclared Majors and, competitively, Eh? Cappella!
Maleekah Ar-rahiman- Fiction Editor
Maleekah (she/her/hers) is a second-year student majoring in Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice and minoring in Environment and Society. She was born and raised in Canada and has an 8-year old cat named Billo Rani. Her aspiration in life is to become a journalist and write about womxn, femmes, and non-binary folks in the global south. She is a total concert junkie, and has seen her favourite band The Driver Era three times.
Emily Baird- Poetry Editor
Emily (she/her) is a first-year MA student in GRSJ and has a BA Combined Honours in English and Human Rights & Social Justice. Her research is centered around community art as environmental justice practice, and she is interested in exploring alternatives to carceral feminism. She grew up in Deep River, Ontario, on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe people. In her spare time she loves going on hikes in the woods and practicing witchcraft.
Jasmine Manango - Poetry Editor
Jasmine (she/they) is a second year undergraduate student at UBC double majoring in English Literature and GRSJ. They are a 1.5 generation Filipino immigrant and a settler of colour on the stolen and ancestral lands of the Coast Salish, sc̓əwaθenaɁɬ təməxʷ, S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Kwantlen, Stz’uminus, and šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam) peoples and Hul’qumi’num language groups commonly known as Richmond, BC. She wants to bridge the gaps between journalism, academia, literature, and grassroots activism to create more equitable and decolonial social justice spaces. Jasmine is passionate about climate justice, chocolate chip banana bread and character-driven high fantasy novels.
Kayley Hirose - Poetry Editor
Kayley (she/her/hers) is an undergraduate student in her final year pursuing a double major in GRSJ and History. She is a fifth generation Japanese Canadian living on unceded xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) land. She is passionate about utilizing art and culture to foster community-building and enjoys theatre, live music, and ice cream.
Anika Nicholson - Poetry Editor
Anika (she/they) is in their final year of an arts undergraduate with a major in Gender, Race, and Sexuality in Social Justice and a minor in Family Studies. She is a settler on the unceded land of the Coast Salish, sc̓əwaθenaɁɬ təməxʷ, S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), Kwantlen, Stz’uminus, and šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam) peoples and Hul’qumi’num language groups, more commonly known as Richmond, BC. Anika has three dogs and will definitely show you pictures if you ask.
Raaz Rashtian- Non-fiction Editor
Raaz (she/her) is a third-year undergraduate student majoring in GRSJ and minoring in Law and Society. She is passionate about human and environmental rights, and her aspiration in life is to become an immigration or human rights lawyer.
Maya Acharya - Fiction Editor
Maya Acharya (she/they) is a visiting PhD fellow at GRSJ usually based between London and Copenhagen. Their project is focused on anti-racist resistance within and beyond universities, thinking about how academia can be reimagined through disobedience, desire and intimacy. They are interested in zines and DIY publishing as collective knowledge creation, connecting to other projects she is involved in: Venom Zine Library, an archive centred on BIPOC collective futures, and (un)told pages, a pop-up and literary festival. Her interests are also bound in her experiences as a Nepalese-Ukrainian migrant.
Michelle Kim - Poetry Editor
Michelle (any pronouns) is a second generation Canadian Korean. They’re in their third year for sociology and law and society. Michelle is interested in steering their career towards immigration services, legal aid or diversity, equity and inclusion advising. Some of their favourite things include eating restaurant bread, singing in the shower and watching cooking competition shows. Outside of classes, Michelle also volunteers for outreach at the AMS Sexual Assault Support Centre
Taylor Tang - General Submissions Reader
Taylor (she/her) is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the UBC Sciences Po Dual Degree program. She completed her first BA at Sciences Po where she majored in Political Humanities with a minor in International Relations, and is currently completing her second BA with UBC with a major in International Relations and a minor in Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice. She is a settler of colour and second-generation immigrant on the stolen and ancestral lands of the Coast Salish, səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam) peoples. Taylor drinks hot tea regardless of the temperature outside and enjoys reading fiction in her spare time.
Katheryn Duan - General Submissions Reader
"Katheryn (they/she) is a first generation Chinese settler living on unceded xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) land. They are interested in community-based research on topics such as health inequalities, food insecurity, and queer placemaking. In their free time, you can usually find them with an iced coffee on one hand, and a good book on the other.
Abril Soewarso-Rivera - Host of the Love in Public Podcast
Abril (she/her) is a second year at UBC, majoring in Psychology and minoring in International Relations. She is a Mexican-Indonesian-American who has called two places home: Sunnyvale, California and Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. She is passionate about community-building, theatre, and the intersections between art and activism.
